COURTHOUSE — The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department carries out orders of the courts, transports prisoners and provides security in courtrooms and for all its duties received high marks from state observers.

The department, comprising 115 employees, including 96 deputies, was the focus this week of assessors from The Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission who spent two days evaluating the department’s procedures and regulations.

“There were three assessors from different areas of the state that came in to review all our policies and operations. They reviewed all of our equipment, they toured our office area and cell area to make sure that we are operating within our policies and guidelines,” explained county Sheriff Eileen Whalon Behr.

“We were told that everything was up to standard, as expected,” Behr said, adding the assessors indicated they will recommend to the commission that the department be re-accredited for another three years.

Behr said the accreditation is significant because it demonstrates to the public that employees of the department strive to meet professional standards.

“It also tells our rank and file, our deputies and our office staff, that we expect them to meet these standards and operate within these guidelines of the law,” Behr said. “It keeps us professional. I think it’s important, it tells people that you are striving to maintain a professional staff and professional attitude.”

The assessors shadowed deputies as they escorted inmates to and from the courtrooms. The assessors also observed the process of taking inmates off a bus that transported them from the county jail to the courthouse.

One benefit of accreditation is that the state commission will regularly notify the department of any changes in state law regarding law enforcement procedures.

“They make sure that we are all constantly on top of the standards when things change,” said Behr, referring to the educational component of the commission.

Only three of the 67 sheriff’s departments statewide, including Montgomery County, have been accredited under the 10-year-old program, according to officials. There are about 80 police departments statewide that presently have full accreditation.

The county department was initially awarded accreditation on Jan. 28, 2010, during the tenure of the late Sheriff John P. Durante. It was the first sheriff’s department in the state to achieve accreditation. Every two to three years, the department must go through the re-accreditation process.

“You still have to show that you are abiding by the same standards that you abided by when you were first accredited,” explained Sergeant Allen Stewart, the department’s accreditation manager.

Stewart said the accreditation process involves recommendations that law enforcement agencies follow about 330 professional standards.

“It gives the department that professional feel,” explained Stewart, who also leads the department’s bomb squad unit.

During 2012, according to Behr, the department handled a total of 12,178 prisoners, transporting them to and from court appearances.

“They were very impressed, in their words, how we managed the amount of prisoners we handle every day,” said Stewart, referring to the assessors.

It wasn’t Behr’s first experience with the accreditation process. She was chief of the Whitemarsh Police Department when it achieved accreditation in 2009. Behr, Whitemarsh chief for about nine years before becoming sheriff, was the first female police chief in Montgomery County.

Behr was elected sheriff in 2011.

The sheriff is the ranking peace officer of the county and is charged with custody of all prisoners not on bail. Sheriff’s deputies deliver offenders to the institutions to which they have been sentenced and provide security in the courts. The sheriff’s department also carries out orders of the courts in civil and criminal cases and processes all applications for permits to carry concealed weapons.